


blessed be the boys time can't capture

by bluesandbirds



Series: back in business [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Business Bay, Dream Smp, Friendship, Gen, Sad TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Tommyinnit needs a hug, bring them back pls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26972920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluesandbirds/pseuds/bluesandbirds
Summary: Wilbur's gone mad. Tubbo's acting strange. Technoblade is a traitor and Phil's out of reach.Tommy's never been more alone.alternatively: tommy angst during missing business bay hours
Relationships: Niki | Nihachu & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit & Kit | Wispexe, TommyInnit & TimeDeo
Series: back in business [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1998283
Comments: 41
Kudos: 1075





	1. how'd it get to be only me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _like i'm the last damn kid still kicking that still believes_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> takes place after the festival and before today's (october 17th) stream.  
> story title from "the kids aren't alright" by fall out boy  
> chapter title and summary from "save rock and roll" by fall out boy

Tommy sits amongst pink flowers on a hill outside Pogtopia. It's the dead of the night, the moon Techno is so fond of illuminating the landscape with an almost ethereal glow.

His communicator rests in his hands, silent and still. Tommy sits there, missing wooden benches and obtrusive towers, and he thinks.

It's him, Tubbo, and Niki against the world. Sure, they're still technically in Pogtopia with Wilbur and Techno, but the safety Tommy used to feel around ~~his brothers~~ the two men disappeared the second Technoblade aimed a gun at his best friend's head.

Tubbo and Niki are looking to him to lead. To bring back what they once had. To be the _Hero of L'Manburg_.

And he's trying, but goddamnit, it's them against _the world_.

Tommy isn't sure Tubbo even still cares.

He was so happy with Schlatt, so willing to plan the festival and say _yes sir_ and polish black dress shoes.

Tommy thinks about passing by the open doorway while sneaking to the White House, hearing Quackity, Schlatt, and Tubbo joking around like old friends hours before Tubbo knew ~~L'~~ Manburg was set to explode.

Whenever he thinks about it, he's back in the pit, feeling crazy for being angry about something no one else seems to care about. Tubbo, the victim, shrugged off Techno's betrayal like it was a minor inconvenience. 

What Wilbur said tugs at the back of his mind.

_"You're just a yes-man, aren't you?"_

No, that can't be true. Tubbo is more than just a yes-man, he believes in what they're fighting for.

Tubbo believes in L'Manburg.

_"Oh fine, Wilbur, let them duel in the pit."_

( ~~Right~~?)

Niki still believes, that's for certain.

But Tommy is worried because Niki believes and Niki cares and that's a recipe for pain. (He would know.)

He stood next to her as they watched Wilbur frantically dig a pit for his ~~little brothers~~ allies to fight in, muttering about fist fights and settling things.

_"Tommy, I'm... Very, very weird vibes from Wilbur. Is he okay?"_

Tommy looked into her eyes and she was him. The realization on her own features was him watching Dream and his goons spring from the walls, hearing Jschlatt make his first presidential decree, accepting that the man he gave up everything for was about to blow it all away.

Niki can take care of herself, of course, but he wonders how many more betrayals she can handle—Wilbur and Tommy leaving her behind, Fundy burning down her flag, Wilbur and Techno pledging themselves to anarchy—before the world turns all her hard-won softness to soot.

Maybe they're not completely alone. Niki seems certain Eret can help. ( _Final Control Room. It was never meant to be. You fucked up._ ) According to Tubbo, Quackity is having doubts. ( _I don't like ANY OF IT. SWAG2020. Jump off, Tommy, this isn't yours anymore.)_

Tommy isn't ready.

All the people he used to trust just left him to bleed in a pit.

The weight of the communicator is familiar and comforting. All the dents and bumps are ones he's run his fingers across millions of times. He brushes over a crack in the screen and breathes out.

Sure, there's also Phil. There's always been Phil, who is steadfast and sensible when his sons are anarchy and arson.

But, as Tommy tosses his communicator from hand to hand, he admits something to himself.

He really isn't sure if Phil will take his side.

Phil is their _dad_ , yeah, but he's known Techno and Wilbur longer. It took Tommy a while to stop being the _annoying zombie kid_ and earn the title of _son._

In fact, his current situation isn't so different from SMPEarth when the people he now calls his family were then his enemies.

Though, SMPEarth wasn't so black and white.

He remembers passing out in the middle of a "fight" (more of a glorified bullying session) and waking up wrapped in a red cape.

He remembers standing on a bridge, arguing with Wilbur, and nearly slipping on slick stones. He remembers the sheer panic in the other man's eyes, the way his hands shot out as if he could keep Tommy from plummeting over the edge.

He doesn't think he'd trust Wilbur to catch him now.

Tommy had different enemies then, but he also had different friends.

 _The Business Boys. The Bay._ He misses them.

Four kids, shouting and fighting god with sticks, just because they could.

He talks to Bitzel the most of them all, decently frequent text exchanges with a few voice calls sprinkled in between. Luke, while rarer, has been in contact a good couple times a month.

He's been getting complete radio silence from Deo.

He hasn't reached out to Wisp in a long time.

And maybe it's nostalgia, maybe it's hope, maybe it's ghosts in his head, but his thumb presses _Call TimeDeo._

It beeps once, twice, three times...

Deo never picks up.

Tommy stares at the screen for the longest time, hoping that bubble would light up green.

(It doesn't.)

His first urge is to chuck the communicator into the far lake. He wants to crush it into pieces under his boot. He wants to snap it in half with his bare hands.

He switches it off and tucks it away.

"Tommy?"

Niki stands behind him with sleep-mussed hair and a concerned frown.

"Hey, Niki, I was just..." He trails off, not sure where to go.

Soft, tired eyes look him over. She sighs.

"Come and sleep, Tommy." Niki holds out a hand.

The device burns where it sits in his pocket. Tommy takes her hand.

The moon lights their way back.


	2. i wanna see my family, wanna see my friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you thought i would leave it there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from "all i need" by khai dreams  
> all quotes in italics are from videos/streams, you can comment if you want them?

A missed call from TommyInnit at 1:25 AM is not something TimeDeo expected to wake up to, but the notification is still there even after he blinks and rubs his eyes.

Though maybe he shouldn't be so surprised, he thinks guiltily as he scrolls through pages of unanswered messages.

He never meant to let it get this bad. It's just that Deo has a one-track mind and Tommy has always been a transcontinental railway.

He fiddles with the communicator, flicking it on and off.

Tommy's never called him before. Most of his messages were just silly attempts at reaching out that Deo couldn't bring himself to reply to.

Does he leave it be?

Should he call back? 

If Tommy picks up then what does Deo even say? _Hey, sorry for being a bad friend_ , or _Didn't see your past hundred messages, I've been in the shower_ , or _I really did believe we were the dynamic duo but then one month turned into two and then two to three and then I wasn't sure if you even still thought about me_.

Before he can think himself out of it, his finger is hitting the button.

It beeps once, twice, and then:

_"D—Deo?"_

His friend's familiar voice is almost enough to make him smile if not for the sheer incredulity coloring his tone. 

"Hey, Tommy."

_"It's 'cause we're a good team, Deo, it's 'cause we're a good team."_

“What’s up, man?” He winces as soon as the words leave his lips.

“Deo?”

He wishes his friend would stop saying his name like that. Like he’s some ghost or miracle.

“Yeah, it’s—” He swallows. “—it’s me. I… how are you?”

Tommy laughs and it’s not the explosive, infectious cackle Deo grew to know, but instead a terrible, broken sound. “It’s bad, Deo, it’s real bad.”

“Tell me everything.”

_"Oh, I don't like anything. Except you, Deo, you're so great."_

Wisp hears the news from TimeDeo.

Wisp can't say he's surprised by the development. He'd never trusted Wilbur. Not with power and certainly not with Tommy.

_"Wilbur was Tommy's lawyer? Was he his lawyer or was he his associate? Tommy really looks up to Wilbur. You know? So, Wilbur could probably give Tommy an idea—_ kill Tubbo's bee. Go on, do us a solid. Kill Tubbo's bee _—boom! From there, it all goes down."_

And, yeah, maybe he doesn't have any right to, but Wisp misses _his_ little brother.

He remembers the days when the Bay was just the two of them. Young and dumb with no inkling of wars or betrayals.

He doesn't regret what he did that night. Wisp chose the winning side. He will never, ever regret ending up on top. But maybe he regrets the way he did it. The wounded look in Tommy's eyes. The tears he tried to mask with anger. The tightness in Wisp's own chest that he covered with mocking laughter. The fact that there was an audience to what might as well have been the crumbling of their friendship.

He remembers the flight back to the Empire. Heavy silence that Philza jovially attempted to break. Tears in his eyes that he blamed on the wind. The cold that clawed at his skin and seeped into his bones.

He remembers stepping into Port-aux-Francais, eyes devouring wealth he didn't even know was possible.

He remembers Technoblade staring down at him with judgemental aspect.

He remembers thinking it was funny, that not very long ago he was swearing to destroy the very man he now bows down to for the sake of the boy he just left in the dirt.

_"Tommy, anyone that touches you fucks with me, I'm going to fuck him up... I will kill Techno if it takes me all of my life to prepare for it, you understand me?"_

Wisp frowns. He let that boy go once and he's done making the same mistakes.

Dream's last message to him is a thank you for dueling with him. He figures he can cash in that favor now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Wisp joined the game._


End file.
